Comparative validity of the Internet and paper-and-pencil versions of the Night Eating Questionnaire

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Internet and paper-and-pencil versions of the Mandarin Chinese version of the Night Eating Questionnaire (C-NEQ) and compared these measures' validity.

Method: The C-NEQ was evaluated through two different media: 626 participants completed the C-NEQ on the Internet and 160 participants completed the paper-form C-NEQ at the psychiatric outpatient clinics. A subgroup completed both versions of the C-NEQ (n=50). The Night Eating Syndrome History and Inventory was used to identify individuals with night eating syndrome (NES).

Results: The paper-and-pencil and Internet versions of the C-NEQ both showed good internal consistency, reliability, and concurrent validity. Reliability between the Internet and the paper-and-pencil versions of the C-NEQ was excellent (ICC=.96). Diagnostic analysis of the C-NEQ's performance using the Receiver Operation Curve method showed excellent results in both versions; the area under the curve did not differ significantly between the versions. Regarding detecting NES, the Internet version had a higher optimal cutoff point than the paper-and-pencil version (23 and 22, respectively).

Conclusions: The Internet and paper-and-pencil versions of the C-NEQ both showed strong reliability and validity; however the two versions appear to differ marginally regarding usage in NES detection.